Keeping Hope in a Changing World - Amy Boucher Pye

A benefit of having a traditional publisher is their help with marketing and sales.
Here I am at the book launch at Quench in Wokingham - a fabulous evening with lots of sales.

The only constant is change, and that’s true in the publishing world. Some would say the changes are for the worse, pointing to the previously inconceivable pairing of, say, IVP and SPCK (see Phil Groom’s blog for more info). We’ve lost probably 150 Christian bookshops over the last 5 years with the demise of the Wesley Owen and SPCK chains, and many independents. The number of books that go into bookshops has plummeted, as have sales.

And while traditional publishers are struggling, indie and self-publishers are churning out publications in a rapid fashion. The new technology is a positive change, giving authors more opportunities to publish either traditionally or via indie means. Yet those in the traditional field can seem pitted against indie publishers, and emotions can run high – as we saw over the summer in the ACW Facebook group after the publication of the Christian Writer issue with the Doris Lessing quotation on the front.

As I consider the massive changes in the publishing world, I’m now seeing it with a personal slant, as October is my publication month for my first book, FindingMyself in Britain (Authentic Media). Having worked in Christian publishing for yonks, I now find myself needing to implement the advice I dished out so heartily to authors in the past. As Steve Mitchell, MD of Authentic, says, no longer do we have the bell curve of sales where the pub month was the main sales month and then sales would drop off. Now it’s more of a diagonal curve, where pub day is day one and hopefully the start of the sales cycle.

Discoverability remains a key phrase. As authors we need to keep on reaching our audience – through speaking, blogging, and via influencers who spread the word around. My publisher wants me to blog daily for the two weeks around the launch on subjects related to the book, and then move down to once or twice a week – for many moons! This feels exciting but daunting too, and I’m just so glad Steve Mitchell recommended that I write my book as a through-the-year look – I can easily blog on the high days and holidays in British life.

Yet so many authors move onto the next project – and that’s just human nature. For instance, I’m thrilled to have signed the contract last week for my second book-baby, the 2017 BRF Lent book. So part of me thinks, let’s get on with that. But I’m glad Authentic is keeping me accountable, for I do want to keep on keeping on with the promotion of my first born.

What do you make of the state of publishing? How do you keep promoting your published books while you start in on your next projects? How do you keep your readers engaged?

Amy Boucher Pye has worked in traditional publishing for HarperCollins (UK), Zondervan and Authentic Media. She runs the Woman Alive book club and writes devotional thoughts for several publishers. She’s delighted to have released her first book, a through-the-year look at life in Britain. She blogs at www.amyboucherpye.com and tweets at @AmyBoucherPye.